1. Field of the Invention
The parent application, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety, discloses an on-board, vehicle incident surveillance system for producing a secure, permanent record of vehicular accidents for evidentiary purposes. The instant invention is broadly directed to an on-board, vehicle surveillance system and, particularly to a system for producing a secure, permanent record of criminal activity relating to the vehicle for evidentiary purposes which may be transferred directly to an information center and/or the authorities by means of a transmission link which is preferably a satellite up/link-down/link.
2. Related Art
As concern over security increases, more locations, such as ATM's, have incorporated photographic identification equipment in order to deter thefts and other unlawful acts in the vicinity of the secure location. Such systems allow routine surveillance images of persons as they present themselves at the location which is to be protected. This has a deterrent effect, since storing of images of persons as they appear at these locations represents an unbiased eye witness account of activity. By means of timers and other devices, activities can be cross-matched to surrounding activities. In prior art systems, images are stored on video tape or other means for later processing.
While the above-referenced surveillance systems have become increasingly common at fixed locations, the use of such surveillance in a mobile application is more problematic. In recent years, authorities, taxi cabs, transit systems and the like have employed mobile video units to observe activity within the mobile unit and to deter crimes while these units are in transit. Increasingly, however, vehicle theft has become a problem. In the trucking industry, truck-jacking and cargo theft has become epidemic. Thus, not only is there a requirement for surveillance in the interior of the vehicle but also surrounding the vehicle. Further, there is a requirement for night surveillance. For example, when rigs are docked overnight for unloading in the morning, tampering and removal of items from the cargo holds is common place. With high-ticket item cargo, the undetected unloading of even a single van is a multi-million dollar loss.
Vehicle insurance carriers are continually looking for ways to reduce losses as well as the cost associated with handling claims. In our prior application we addressed the losses associated with vehicular mishaps. Each year there are over 35 million on-the-road accidents in the United States alone. There are many other vehicles including water craft, and off-road vehicles which are involved in mishaps. These can vary from one vehicle to multi-vehicle incidents. These mishaps or accidents result in property and bodily injury in the multi-billion-dollar range. In most cases, one or more of the parties are at fault and it is the requirement of law enforcement officers, insurance adjusters and the like to find credible witnesses to re-account the factual evidence, so culpability and liability may accurately be determined.
Likewise, each year theft and vandalism accounts for losses that approach those from mishaps. These are likewise insured losses that must be dealt with by insurance carriers. In many cases however the loss is caused by carelessness, or is in fact an "inside job". The insurance industry, which is responsible for investigation and replacement or coverage of the loss, spends millions of dollars in investigating such activity as well as billions of dollars in replacing or compensating for lost cargo. In many instances, it is actually the driver or persons associated with the driver who are involved in removal of the cargo. Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a system that provides day and night surveillance of a mobile vehicle, especially tractortrailer's exterior of the vehicle as well as within the cab and the cargo bay.
Since the thieves may be, in fact, in cahoots with persons closely associated with the rigs or the transportation system, there is a requirement that the recording and storage of such data be in a tamper-proof container. In this manner, even persons approaching a rig or a vehicle in order to purloin the contents could be immediately detected.
Further, monitors to detect and accurately measure certain physical phenomenon would be very useful in determining the facts surrounding a theft. The key to such a system is a non-tamperable, restricted access, large storage capacity, "always on" device. It would therefore be advantageous to have a system with limited access, stored video recording of the incident, identification of the source, and accurate time synchronization, which could be reviewed after the incident by the authorities on the scene and later by investigators, prosecutors and/or judges to witness firsthand the incident as it actually happened. Thus, a secure, on board system capable of objective, non-tamperable, unbiased evidence, would be highly beneficial in determining the exact circumstances surrounding a theft.
Additionally, it would be advantageous to have a system that would instantaneously broadcast live activity to authorities in order that a response to the crime could be dispatched to the scene in order to deter and/or prevent the crime. Thus a unit which communicates directly with an information center and/or authorities by means of, for example, a satellite up/link-down/link would be highly advantageous.
One of the primary drawbacks of prior art surveillance systems is that they are capable of being tampered with or even destroyed and therefore cannot be relied upon as credible evidence, especially in a court of law. One of the primary requisites of a secure system is an encoded access system, and preferably encoding of the recorded information itself. This is necessary if the information is stored onboard or transmitted to a secure downlink for retention. Another failure of prior art systems is lack of external synchronization so that the exact time is accurately embedded into the secure coded information such that information taken from more than one vehicle can be compared on a synchronized basis.
The use of a vehicle mounted, video camera to make video records of an incident or scene external to the vehicle are known in the art. Grist, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,148,119, discloses the use of a camera mounted inside a law enforcement vehicle, which makes a record on photographic film. A speedometer mounted on the hood of the law enforcement vehicle is simultaneously recorded on the photographic film along with the target vehicle.
Lucas et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,289, discloses a system for law enforcement surveillance work. U.S. Pat. No. 1,733,783 discloses the concept of having a camera system inside a vehicle to record unauthorized use of a vehicle and to photograph scenes of an accident in which the vehicle is involved. U.S. Pat. No. 5,455,625 discloses placing a video camera inside a vehicle for recording and at the same time protecting access to the camera. U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,324 discloses a surveillance system for transmitting images via a radio transmitter. The remote transmitter transmits electrical radio signals having converted visual images to a receiver for converting visual images into an electrical signal. U.S. Pat. No. 3,752,048 discloses a surveillance camera for a vehicle that is in a tamper proof container for recording passengers. U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,182 issued to Kreuzer, et al., discloses a portable mini-cam or palm recorder which is adapted to fit into a receptacle within a passenger compartment of a vehicle to observe activity within the passenger compartment. The receptacle is designed to prevent theft of the mini-cam.